India ink
Americannoun
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a black pigment consisting of lampblack mixed with glue or size.
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a liquid ink from this.
Etymology
Origin of India ink
First recorded in 1655–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Lotion tubes, squirt bottles, brushes, a honey bear, solo flip-flops, a Wiffle ball and a legless lawn flamingo now stained bone-white, all provide the canvas for Riley’s patterned mariner drawings in India ink.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2022
The Victorian-era collections are true works of art, with purple, red, brown and green algae arranged in eye-catching patterns on sturdy white card and signed in flowing India ink.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 27, 2020
Visitors can see the pencil lines beneath the India ink, and the white-out on top.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 15, 2020
“There’s a white lime coating underneath . and they put black India ink on top.”
From Washington Times ● Apr. 24, 2016
And her feet and her hands—the tips were as black as if she had dipped them in India ink.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.